A comment Dennis mentioned in another post about the sound on Out On The Road being mono has spurred me on to start this thread.

I wouldn't quite go as far as to describe the sound on OOTR as mono, but certainly it is pretty poor quality, as was the Rock-in-beat release of a few years back. However, they are better than nothing! Just yesterday, I heard a version of OOTR which was released on CD on the Melody Blvd label and the sound is exceptionally good; great balance, clarity and much superior to the other CD releases of this superb album. I'd actually go as far as to say that EMI could do a similar job on some tracks.

This has led me to question the sources Magic use and even if (as claimed on the CD cases) the contents are actually remastered.

The Good:

Another Night
Write On

Both have exceptionally good sound, much afore the EMI releases of the mid-90's. The sound seems 'expanded' and the clarity is wonderful, great 'top end'.

The Bad:

Hollies Sing Hollies (original jewel case version)
Romany

HSH was the first release which I picked up from Magic Records (and bought from Dave Hayes GroovyCD which advertised in 'Carousel' newsletter - is he still trading?) The sound was largely appaling, for example the bass on Please Let Me Please could loosen the foundations of your average house, whilst Marigold/Gloria Swansong was distorted. The bonus tracks of Sorry Suzanne, Heavy and Not That Way At All were by contrast, the best quality I have ever heard of these tracks. Romany was released after the EMI version in the Four More Originals box and by comparison, the quality on the Magic Records release sounded truly mono.

The Ugly:

Out On The Road

After what I heard yesterday from Melody Blvd, this is really horrid.

So...what source do Magic use for their releases? I'd go as far as to say a tape of some sort for the original Hollies Sing Hollies and Out On The Road. I honestly cannot say how the company can claim that the releases have been remastered in High Definition.

Don't perceive this as an attack on Magic - I have bought many of their CD's and most are excellent, but one just questions why they release versions that are inferior to others out there and indeed, what does the Hollies management (or the players in question) think about them?

All I can say is I hope Geoff Coles manages to get the same quality product released for other Hollies albums as he has managed recently with Romany and Buddy Holly.

Good questions James. Ones I have wondered myself. Sorr y I don't have an answer but I will offer this thought. The only copy of OOTR I own is on the Rock In Beat label. I have always found this CD hard to enjoy because of the sound quality(Not the Music) I have not bought the Magic release of OOTR because of what others have said about it's sound quality. I reckon that the Rock In Beat Records issue was mastered off recordings taken off a record. In other words they recorded each song off the record and then mastered them, removing clicks and pops, and filtered them to get rid of rumbal and other track noises particularly in the quiet parts such as intros and fade outs. This process does effect the higher frequencies and creates a duller and lesser sound quality upon playback, which is what I hear. If you listen carefully to the song "Slow Down Go Down" you will hear a click in one part of the song (From memory it's around the part where Terry sings "just be a dam good lover") this to me has been a click in the original record that got overlooked in the editing process. I have recorded alot of records on to my computer in the past and processed them for burning onto CD and having played around with filters and such I can hear things that have that sound of being mastered this way.Liken it to a song that has been downloaded as an MP3, if you compare the MP3 version to the CD version you will find that the one from the CD is higher quality in sound. I am waiting for someone to issue OOTR that has been truely mastered from the original master tapes. PS: I can't speak for the Magic Issue as I have never heard it.

Posted:Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:45 am

carlane3

Post subject: Re: Magic Records releases - remastered?

Banjo
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 45
Location: USA

I have the Melody Blvd disc as well....Excellent sound quality, great artwork as well. I think this version is now OOP unfortunately.....I don't see the company's web site any longer.

James Towill wrote:

A comment Dennis mentioned in another post about the sound on Out On The Road being mono has spurred me on to start this thread.

I wouldn't quite go as far as to describe the sound on OOTR as mono, but certainly it is pretty poor quality, as was the Rock-in-beat release of a few years back. However, they are better than nothing! Just yesterday, I heard a version of OOTR which was released on CD on the Melody Blvd label and the sound is exceptionally good; great balance, clarity and much superior to the other CD releases of this superb album. I'd actually go as far as to say that EMI could do a similar job on some tracks.

This has led me to question the sources Magic use and even if (as claimed on the CD cases) the contents are actually remastered.

The Good:

Another Night
Write On

Both have exceptionally good sound, much afore the EMI releases of the mid-90's. The sound seems 'expanded' and the clarity is wonderful, great 'top end'.

The Bad:

Hollies Sing Hollies (original jewel case version)
Romany

HSH was the first release which I picked up from Magic Records (and bought from Dave Hayes GroovyCD which advertised in 'Carousel' newsletter - is he still trading?) The sound was largely appaling, for example the bass on Please Let Me Please could loosen the foundations of your average house, whilst Marigold/Gloria Swansong was distorted. The bonus tracks of Sorry Suzanne, Heavy and Not That Way At All were by contrast, the best quality I have ever heard of these tracks. Romany was released after the EMI version in the Four More Originals box and by comparison, the quality on the Magic Records release sounded truly mono.

The Ugly:

Out On The Road

After what I heard yesterday from Melody Blvd, this is really horrid.

So...what source do Magic use for their releases? I'd go as far as to say a tape of some sort for the original Hollies Sing Hollies and Out On The Road. I honestly cannot say how the company can claim that the releases have been remastered in High Definition.

Don't perceive this as an attack on Magic - I have bought many of their CD's and most are excellent, but one just questions why they release versions that are inferior to others out there and indeed, what does the Hollies management (or the players in question) think about them?

All I can say is I hope Geoff Coles manages to get the same quality product released for other Hollies albums as he has managed recently with Romany and Buddy Holly.

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